Web Story-Teams 17112017

Web story-Teams 17112017

Meet-the-Crews - Transcript

Service Park Stage

Friday 17 November 2017

Present:

Michel Nandan, HYUNDAI MOTORSPORT

Yves Matton, CITROËN TOTAL ABU DHABI WORLD RALLY TEAM

Richard Milne, M-SPORT WORLD RALLY TEAM

Tommi Makinen, TOYOTA GAZOO RACING WRT

Guys, what a great opening day here at Rally Australia, Michel it is Andreas Mikkelsen who is in the lead for you. Bit of a re run from what we have seen last year of course, when he went on to win the Event with Volkswagen, he was keen to do it again this year for you it’s looking good so far what have you thought of his performance?

MN:

Well his performance is very good in fact he really used the fact he was starting behind so good road position and what I have to say is he is really motivated, and he did a perfect day so today, well done.

It’sinteresting, all the drivers have said nothing to lose now all the championships have been decided its flat out fromEveryone and we have certainly seeing this today.

MN:
Yes well,it’s true I think, we have really big fights well you can see today between the second and the sEventh you have only 18 seconds its really close and we have seen this quite often this year in rallies. It’sreally a big fight and a good fight between the cars really equal and I think for the sportit’s for sure one of the best of the WRC

Yeah certainly has been a really exciting year and hoping it’s going to continue throughout this Event as well. Talk to me about Thierry Neuville’s performance he is moving to second position now after the super special stages, you been pleased with him today?

MN:

Yes of course I think ok starting second on the road was not so easy but ok he managed really really well and well come back second this Evening is very good and also tomorrow is a very very difficult day and a lot of things can happenbut I think tonight to be second is good for tomorrow.

Huge amount of Haydon Paddon fans here of course, he is trying to regain some confidence out there. The morning was good, this afternoon maybe not as good as the morning. What have you thought of what he has done, what can he do tomorrow?

MN:

Well I think he has to really really got to get better confidence you know sometimes its ok sometimes it a little bit not, a little bit too cautious but I quite am sure he will come to more and more and will be ok, because he really likes these stages and we know here is always performing really really well.

Michel thank you very much let’s turn to Yves Matton now then. It’s been a really good day for Citroen we have seen strong performances from all of your drivers lets kick off with the man who is in third position at the end of the day that’sKris Meeke what have you thought of Kris today?

EM:

We are really happy with what he did today and his performance for sure. He had a good road position, but you really manage like we expect and like we ask him to do today and ok we see rally is still long.

Yeah still a huge way to go. With the time difference we are seeing between Meeke and the lead because Andreas seems to be running away with it right now do you think it’s possible for Kris to really challenge especially when we have such a long way to go and a long stage to kick off the morning tomorrow?

EM:

Yeah sure the gap is quite big but ok tomorrow we have a very long stage and the stage is not so easy a lot of things can happen, I think there will be a good battle between the two front runners and ok he will try to push, push as hard as possible and we will see what can happen.

We heard a very emotional Craig Breen at the end of the third stage today he was really loving the car and he certainly put that out over the radio coverage today. What have you thought of his performance today as it is his first time in Australia?

EM:

Oh yeah also really really happy, first time here in Australia he was able to find a very high pace in comparison with the front drivers who have a lot of experience with this rally. He was able to do it with the whole dayalso that is important without making any mistake. I will say that its what we expect from him for this rally because we ask him to try to push and show what he is able to do.

And for Lefebvre it was a strong day as well even with unfortunately a couple of punctures on the same stage, did he hit the same thing? Or was it different?

EM:

For sure it was on the same stage but not on the same corner I will say its lucky for him because it if it was on the same corner it would have been quite stupid, but it was not the case. I will say nearly the same performance of Craig and the same pace today he is also doing a great job with the speed with all the drivers when you lose two times ten seconds it’s easy to be far on the classifications.

Thanks Eve. We turn to Richard Millanen now. It’s been a tough day it seems for the team Richard, you have the world champion sweeping the road clear that’s hard enough, Ott seems to have had a difficult day and seems to have lost his rear bumper and diffuser a few times on both the morning and the afternoon stages. How do you summarise the day from M-Sport?

I think it’s a good job that we wrapped it up in Wales. It wasn’t the best day for us, it has elements of issues running first on the road, but we’ve had a couple of problems, lost rear diffuser on both cars, Seb lost it once and Ott lost it twice, so it really hasn’t helped, and Seb unfortunately had a problem with the gear shift as well. Despite the road we can’t blame that really, we have had a few issues that we need to try and resolve this evening and hopefully have a better tomorrow.

You can never rule out the world champion he always pulls out some surprises doesn’t he. But what can he do now with the difference in the lead. Even from second position its quite a distance but he is back in eighth if I can remember but it’s quite a long shot for him to go for a win now.

RM:

Yeah, I think we have to really stick to it. A win is pretty difficult to achieve now it’s still tight between the top two will have a good fight and then it’s still a good fight between the rest of them. As you said it’s a 50km in the morning straight away and it’s a very different stage lots of different surfaces and yeah things ok again running position is not going to be perfect again with the reverse classifications, but anything can happen over here and like you say Seb has won over here before, so he knows the rally well and Ott will be pushing as well and Elfyn will be trying as well. We will have to see what happens.

Bit of extra glue on the car to keep those diffusers on tomorrow?

RM:
There’s tape, glue,ryvetts, cable ties and ratchet straps.

Where would we be without a cable tie thank you very much Richard. Tommi let’s talk about the Toyota drivers. We have seen Latvala really go for it today especially this afternoon he has been pushing up to try and get close to that podium how do you think he is doing?

TM:

Yes, afternoon was bit better, in the morning that was a bit dramas maybe from the start well only 300 meters into the stage he lost his front bumper which is of course which is related to the aerodynamics that was disturbing him also had some intercom trouble which he couldn’t follow the notes properly and I would say it was disturbing his best concentration from the start and that was not good. From the afternoon he was doing far better so generally ok with and so tomorrow I don’t know. I don’t know tomorrows stages, but I understand they are pretty challenging and a little different which will be good for us.

He mentioned at the midpoint media zone that ok he had some issues and had losing the front splitter, but he felt he wasn’t giving the best performance himself. What can you do as a team manager really encourage him a bit more Tommi? Give him some confidence?

TM:

That is good question, I have been thinking of what to do. Well you know rallying is so sensitive sport if you feel and find that this I would say this rally especially I remember from the other side of the country when we were competition it was really this rally that you have to have maximum confidence in the car otherwise you lose so quickly little bit, well we have something, and two days and I hope tomorrow is a good day for that.

What would it mean for the team to get a podium here at the final Event in what has been your debut season in the WRC?

TM:

We try to, and I feel confident Jari-Matti can do well and we hope to see him on the podium that would be the good final round if he reaches the podium.

I’m sure it would. Good luck for the second day of Rally Australia ladies and gentlemen our Team Managers.

(ends)